Catholic Church: “Don’t Read the Bible!”

by Steve Ray on September 9, 2016

We often hear that the Catholic Church has forbidden the reading of the Bible! Have you heard this? Yeah, me too! But, this is another one of those big myths which has worked its way into the popular dialog but one that has not been proved from Church teaching and documents.

The second is a list of Catholic Bibles from ancient times that prove the charge against the Catholic Church false, since the Forewords and Prefaces prove that the Catholic Church PROMOTED the reading of Scripture.

Here is the beginning of a long article which gives a TON of information on this topic and proves the Catholic Church has not forbidden the reading of Scripture — but quite the contrary, it has always promoted the reading and study of Scripture by the faithful.

You and I have both heard the myth: “The Catholic Church has forbidden Catholics from reading the Bible!”

I am not intending to say that Catholics, especially in the United States were always big Bible readers in the past. Certainly there was a deficit in this area — and a certain shyness coming from the problems of Protestantism and their Bible-thumping ways.

But it is a MYTH that Catholics did not read the Bible until the late 20th Century — until after Vatican II. Those who could read (many could not read over the centuries and even today ½ the world’s population is effectively illiterate) did read the Bible when they had them.1 Catholic biblical scholarship did not begin with Pius XII. It seems almost ludicrous to have to say that since we Catholics have had the best and the brightest of biblical scholars long before modern times — just consider Origen, Tertullian, St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Thomas Aquinas just to mention a few.

There has been a very long history of Bible reading, study and scholarship stretching back to the beginning of Christian/Catholic history….

Great myth busting. Of further interest along the lines of Papal writings giving an unmistakable Catholic attitude towards the Bible are the Encyclicals “Spiritus Paraclitus” by Pope Benedict XV, and “Divino Afflante Spiritu” by Pope Pius XII. More info on my website. Great job Steve.

If this is true then why did so many have to suffer the Inquisitions? Why did Tyndale and Wycliffe and Huss have to be burned at the stake?

STEVE RAY HERE: You need to study history more carefully and not just parrot what others feed you. These men were not executed for reading the Bible but for being heretics that opposed the state and brought about insurrection. They translated the Bible into heretic versions that no one would use today. The Inquisition was a state action to avoid insurrection and the breakdown of society since religion and the state were so closely tied.

Oh boy….this topic is also getting a lot of re-circulation thanks in no part, to many anti-Catholics who are promoting the PBS special on the Spanish Inquisition, which can be purchased through Amazon on cd.

Be VERY careful in arguing against the anti-Catholics who try to use this “documentary”. It would be wise to contact PBS to get a copy of the transcript because the anti-Catholic will say something that IS NOT PART of the documentary, or they will intentionally misquote it, or they will simply take what PBS is saying as gospel fact.

A great example of this is the following: “The Catholic Church banned THE Bible for nearly 400 years before releasing it from its “forbidden” list until 1965.” Uhhhhhhh….not quite.

The Catholic Church NEVER forbade or banned THE Bible. What the Catholic Church forbade and banned was the reading, purchasing and distribution of POORLY TRANSLATED Bibles that contained heretical statements and theological errors. Sound familiar? It should, since nearly every protestant church or pastor today thinks and feels the same way about the Deutrocanons, as well as most of the sacraments.

Of course the PBS documentary doesn’t quite put it that way, but it does a great job of selectively stating words in a manner that make it sound that way. And of course, providing more information on what the Catholic Church actually did forbid, is issued in a few sentences (or paragraphs) later. Naturally, anyone looking for ammunition will only focus on the words “The Bible” and nothing more. They will even ignore the rest of what is said.

PBS’s documentary is FAR from accurate. Just do a google search on it and look for the article where they interview the producer of the documentary and then read what he has to say. It becomes VERY APPARENT that he was in no way interested in revealing the “truth” about what happened, but more interested in “creating a drama that would allow the message to be conveyed much easier.” After all, people are more entertained by what they see than what they read.

But perhaps what is most interesting is the admittance by the producer that they received permission to “search”, examine and read from the “secret” archives found within the Vatican’s MASSIVE library. Then he goes on to say they needed to get translators in order to help them understand what was documented, along with the admittance that they were “only looking for the more intense stuff.” Hhmm…. Nothing like skipping over most of history in order to provide a biased point of view, is there?

Perhaps the best “documentary” that has been published for television is the one done by the BBC back in the mid 1990s, and can be found on youtube. Sadly, it too has been condensed down to an “hour” long version, far shy from its original two hour – two day broadcast. Nevertheless, it CONFIRMS what has been discovered by all honest and valid historians and totally destroys much of the anti-Catholic propaganda. By the way, it is to be pointed out that the BBC is in NO WAY, friendly or kind to the Catholic Church. They are and have been, very anti-Catholic, although that might not be the case today, but it was at the time of their documentary release.

Most people confuse their ability to “recognize” an injustice when they hear one, as a sign from God that they are being ‘lead” by the Holy Spirit into truth and they, therefore, are somehow part of the “chosen few”. There’s a BIG difference between “recognizing” something and “being fooled” by something.

The Bible tells us that one of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit is “knowledge”. But “knowledge” REQUIRES that the TRUTH be obtained FIRST, otherwise, one is left with nothing but false knowlege; in other words – a pack of lies. And one can not be filled with the Holy Spirit if they willing to cling to and accept something WITHOUT verifying the truth of it first.

So, I find it rather contradictory when St. Paul tells us: “But prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21), yet anti-Catholics don’t even make an attempt to prove all things. They simply follow their blind hatred because they were told by someone they trusted and they truly believe they are being guided by the Holy Spirit.

I was raised Catholic in the 1950’s and 60’s … I went to Catholic school til the 8th grade. The nuns never read the Bible in school. We only/ exclusively studied the Catechism. We were not so much taught that reading the Bible was wrong. It was just never read, except for the readings at Mass and the reading might be referred to in the homily … or not. That is the only time that the Bible was read or talked about. There was never any clergy led discussion. Never any “Bible” class. When the subject ever came up the first thing said in every conversation was that there was a serious danger in interpreting the Bible incorrectly and therefore it should only be used as specifically interpreted by a qualified teacher… The default implication was that the hearer …was unqualified. . Therefore… Personal / individual reading of the Bible was not prohibited… but it was certainly not encouraged … and it was never part of catechesis in school or in CCD classes.

I was unable to edit the above post.
Instead of:
“it was never part of catechesis in school or in CCD classes.”

I would correct my statement to say that the focus was on Church history, patron saints, holy days, rules concerning fasting on Friday or before going to Communion, the wearing of the scapular and various medals, the rosary, purgatory, novenas, indulgences… The difference between a high Mass and a solemn high Mass, the stations of the cross, Changes in the mass, those sorts of things. I remember some specifics … the 10 Commandments/ the Christmas story/ Easter being taught but they were pretty much taught separately from reference to the source. … If the Bible was referenced, it seemed only incidental not the point.

In response to Greg’s comments above, I only attended first and second grade at my parish school. But I remember Sister asking me to read a story from the Bible in class. But that’s just one example. I agree that the Bible was not emphasized as much as it should have been.

And my memories of CCD – even in the sixties – was more along the lines of a little social justice warrior who should be nice everyone than of a soldier for Christ.

But certainly, certainly no one ever discouraged anyone from reading the Bible. I read my Children’s Bible everyday.

I just want to clear things up. I am Catholic i was raised Catholic and i am still Catholic. My Mom was also raised Catholic. I want to share something that i believe is wrong. My Mom to this day doesnt believe in reading the bible because when she was young she was told not to read it because she would not understand it. She is a very educated woman. But ro this day she says that there waw translation upon translations that we would not get the correct message from reading the bible. This is what she was taught. I find it as an uneducaded person that the Holy Scriptures are talking to your soul not your mind. Also i believe in my heart that we as Christians have the Holy Bible in our Hearts. I disagree with teachers from her time and i believe that God will punish them for taking them away from Gods word. I am a Catholic and will die a Catholic but i have a firm belief that Holy Scriptures are not wrong to read educated or not because like i said before God is talking to your soul not only your mind. May God have mercy on anyone who takes this away from anyone. May the peace of Jesus Christ be with you all.

Frank: Steve Ray here. I agree with you completely. The Bible is soul food for us in the catechism requires and encourages Catholics to read this Bible. It actually says “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!”

I was raised strict Catholic.
I was taught at home and in Catholic school to NOT read the Bible as I did not have the education to interpret it correctly.
I disagree with you.
The Catholic church used to DISCOURAGE lay people from reading the Bible.
My Mom almost took her vows as a nun.
I have 3 aunts that are nun.
This did change after Vatican II.
Although, it was still not regularly encouraged.